Western Dairymen to merge with co-ops

Western Dairymen Cooperative Inc., the marketing co-op for most of the dairy producers in Northern Colorado, voted in October to merge its resources with that of three other major dairy operatives to create a new organization with $7 billion in annual sales, said Greg Yando, CEO of the cooperative.If the merger is approved by the other cooperatives, it would consolidate 22,000 dairies in 42 states, Yando said, making it the eighth-largest dairy producer in the world.
Western Dairymen was the first of the four cooperatives to vote on the issue. Voting by the others will conclude by the end of…